An order for the protective barriers was placed last Wednesday, shortly after Washington and Pyongyang exchanged a fresh flurry of mutual accusations.
Walls on Wheels
The blast mitigation barriers consist of metallic containers filled with earth, gravel or sand providing protection against shock waves, artillery shell fragments and even direct hits by high-explosive shells.
Even though North Korea has more than 10,000 artillery pieces and multiple rocket launchers lined up along the entire length of the demilitarized zone separating it from its southern neighbor, the US, unlike South Korea, has little to worry about, Vladimir Ardayev wrote.
Southward Ho!
Located just 24 kilometers (14 miles) away from the border, Seoul and the country’s main US military base located in the very heart of the South Korean capital, are within reach of North Korea’s guns.
Apparently aware of this, the headquarters of the US 8th Army have been moved 60 miles south to Camp Humphreys, a US Army garrison that is now being turned into a gigantic base that will be three times larger than its old size and equipped with up-to-date facilities, along with schools, churches, stores, restaurants, cafes and golf courses.
The size of the camp will triple and after the entire US military command in South Korea and the 2nd Infantry Division are also been relocated there, boosting the population from 11,000 to 42,000.
According to various estimates, the new-look Camp Humphreys base will cost the US taxpayers between $11 billion and $15 billion.
The Real Enemy
Meanwhile, there is a real enemy the US and its South Korean allies should worry more about than any imaginary missile strikes by Pyongyang – Daesh, which is now spreading its deadly tentacles to Southeast Asia.
A year ago, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) warned that Daesh had drawn up a list of potential targets for terrorist attacks, which include 77 US military bases in 21 countries, including South Korea.
Apparently unfazed by threats of “fire and fury” from US President Donald Trump, North Korea has dismissed his warning as a “load of nonsense” and announced a plan to launch missiles at the waters off the coast of the US Pacific territory of Guam.
President Trump responded by warning North Korea on Thursday that “things will happen to them like they never thought possible” should Pyongyang attack the United States or its allies.
Trump added that his earlier statement threatening “fire and fury” may not have been “tough enough.”
